IM 2020 March 20 | Page 5

THE LEADER VO LU M E 1 5 • N U M B E R 3 The mixed autonomy conundrum B Editorial Director Paul Moore B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc. Email: [email protected] Editor Daniel Gleeson BA (Hons) Email: [email protected] Advertising Sales: Phil Playle Email: [email protected] [phone] Publishing Assistant Lynne Lane Email: [email protected] Accounts Manager Nicola Shukla [email protected] Marketing Assistant Joanna English BA (Hons) [email protected] Circulation Assistant Jane Alter [email protected] Design and Production Trevor Sheldon Email: [email protected] Website: www.im-mining.com Annual Subscription Enquiries Emma Smith Email: [email protected] Annual Subscription UK and Europe £160, €230 Rest of the world US$270 International Mining (ISSN No: 1747-146X) is published monthly by Team Publishing Ltd, GBR and is distributed in the USA by Asendia USA, 17B South Middlesex Avenue, Monroe NJ 08831 and additional mailing offices. Periodicals postage paid at New Brunswick NJ. POSTMASTER: send address changes to International Mining, 17B South Middlesex Avenue, Monroe NJ 08831 Printed by The Manson Group, St Albans, UK © Team Publishing Ltd 2020 ISSN 1747 -146X IM uses, as preference, SI units throughout, so, for example, all tonnes are metric unless otherwise stated. All dollars are US unless otherwise stated ack when Epiroc acquired a 34% stake in Utah-based “OEM agnostic” autonomous mining player ASI Mining in October 2018, the question arose how the Swedish global mining equipment maker would develop this strategic interest. With Epiroc having no direct involvement in the mining truck market in surface mining and being focussed on blasthole drills above ground; at  IM we predicted a twin track strategy when both companies were “in the picture” in a tender – where a project came up that specifically involved trucks, ASI would offer its solution independently; and where it specifically involved blasthole drills, where of course Epiroc already has its own autonomy solution, Epiroc would handle it directly. ASI’s Mobius automation command and control system can work with any existing FMS so that isn’t an issue  in terms of projects involving trucks. Where Epiroc is working only on its autonomous drills, it has the option to either offer the Mobius platform or its own  advanced RCS 5 platform. And so it seems, this has come to pass when you look at the major project developments to date. At Ukrainian iron ore major Ferrexpo, though it hasn’t been branded as an Epiroc project, the miner is working with ASI Mining to convert 15 of Yeristovo’s existing Caterpillar haul trucks into autonomous trucks. But in parallel with this, Epiroc is working with Ferrexpo to  progressively convert all of the group’s Pit Viper rigs into autonomous drills. Most recently, however, there has been a more unified approach. Epiroc has signed a contract with Roy Hill to deliver a fully automated haul truck solution for the iron ore mining operation in Western Australia. Interestingly this has been announced as an Epiroc project but “in partnership” with ASI Mining – where Epiroc is to convert Roy Hill’s fleet of haul trucks from manned to autonomous use. The two will deliver a safe and interoperable solution for Roy Hill’s mixed truck fleet, with an ability to expand to other mining vehicle types and manufacturers, and capability to integrate with existing Roy Hill systems, Epiroc said. Epiroc and ASI Mining will also be working closely with Roy Hill and its partners Hitachi and Wenco on truck conversion (as the fleet is mainly Hitachi EH5000AC-3 units) and integration of the existing Wenco fleet management system. The project will see a phased implementation, with testing and production verification of up to eight trucks undertaken in the initial phase prior to the second phase of full fleet expansion from mid-2021. Helena Hedblom, Epiroc’s Senior Executive Vice President Mining and Infrastructure, said: “Epiroc is proud to collaborate with Roy Hill, ASI Mining and other partners to automate Roy Hill’s haul truck fleet, boosting safety and productivity for a crucial aspect of its mining operation. This is a very strong example of how automation will take a mining company’s operation to the next level.” Roy Hill CEO, Barry Fitzgerald, said the mining company was well positioned to transition to automation. “Our teams on site and in our Remote Operations Centre (ROC) in Perth have demonstrated a clear capacity to deliver complex projects, sustainable change and operational excellence with the recent success of our autonomous drill program and fleet optimisation initiatives. Now is the right time to bring the combined expertise of Roy Hill, Epiroc, ASI Mining and Wenco together to convert our haul truck fleet.” Fitzgerald added: “Care is one of our core values, with safety at the heart of everything we do. Roy Hill’s Smart Mine program is driving innovation across our business, and the automation of our haulage fleet is central to delivering safety and production improvements.” Roy Hill is an iron ore mining project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Located 340 km southeast of Port Hedland, it has an integrated mine, rail and port facilities and produces 55 Mt/y of iron ore, with approval to increase to 60 Mt/y. Its ROC in Perth provides end-to-end integration of operations. Of course the mining market is mixed fleet dominated (as at Roy Hill) and is never simple in terms of miner strategies. At Roy Hill, there is already a fleet of automated Epiroc Pit Viper blasthole drills, but these were automated in partnership with US-based independent FLANDERS. And there are other projects of course where Epiroc will automate drills but where ASI is not involved in the auto haulage fleet. A good medium term example is Anglo American’s Quellaveco copper project in Peru, where Epiroc will supply an autonomous Pit Viper drill fleet, but Caterpillar and its dealer Ferreyos will supply an autonomous trucks platform based on Cat Command for hauling and MineStar. Ultimately these decisions on who to work with on autonomy solutions across projects and different machine types comes down to a lot of things – strategic decisions, OEM preferences, existing FMS system in use, mine network capabilities, degree of interoperability that is possible between chosen or existing equipment units, whether the project involves new machines or retrofits…the list goes on. What is clear is that the autonomous mining market will continue to accelerate and evolve. Paul Moore Editorial Director [email protected] MARCH 2020 | International Mining 3